White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took a wild jab at Harvard University on Tuesday as the Trump administration continues to pile on its attacks, eyeing further ways to pull funding from the Ivy League institution.
“The president is more interested in giving that taxpayer money to trade schools and programs and state schools where they are promoting American values but, most importantly, educating the next generation based on skills that we need in our economy and our society,” she told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
“Apprenticeships, electricians, plumbers — we need more of those in our country and less LGBTQ graduate majors from Harvard University and that’s what this administration’s position is,” she continued.
Moments earlier, Leavitt referred to the administration’s “common sense” policy toward funding Harvard before questioning why a university “pushing anti-American values” with a $53 billion endowment should receive taxpayer funds.
After the White House froze billions in federal funds and grants to the university last month, it’s now considering canceling all remaining federal contracts with the institution, The New York Times first reported Tuesday.
Harvard and the White House are locked in a legal battle that saw a federal judge on Friday block the Trump administration’s plan to bar the institution from enrolling foreign students.
The administration’s effort has sparked sharp criticism against the president among Harvard’s international student community.
President Donald Trump has recently toyed with the idea of college students taking on trades beyond their majors.
Earlier this month, he challenged University of Alabama graduates to not just use their “talents for financial speculation” but to also apply their skills toward “forging the steel and pouring the concrete of new American factories, plants, shipyards, and even cities which are going up all over our country.”
Social media users quickly clowned Leavitt’s comments.